All at Once
by gomababe
Summary: Rated for language and sensitive topic. Got inspired by all the talk about the upcoming UK wide referendim on voting reform. How would the nations of the UK cope with all that? Full summary inside


A/N: Yay for democracy. We've got a referendum coming up in the UK to see if we want to change our voting system. Only trouble is that for some reason the 'No to AV' campaign seems to have tons more money than the 'Yes' one... I wonder why that is? Yeah all the talk gave me a ton of inspiration.

...

"_Two men have been arrested after raids by police targeting people suspected of posting "sectarian and hate filled" comments on websites..."_ Scotland glanced up from his laptop when the announcement came onto the BBC news channel. Obviously it was playing the Scottish news for the moment. The Scot snorted as he thought about what America would have to say about the issue, if the younger nation ever heard about it,

"A whole bunch of bloody bollocks, that's whit it is." He grumbled irritably. He remembered the incident which started this whole fiasco off very well; the whole bloody affair had given him a migraine that lasted all week after the match. He just hoped the arrests wouldn't trigger anything else off. Hearing the mail come through the letterbox, Scotland decided it was high time for a cup of tea. He stretched as he got up, he'd been sitting down for far too long. He winced as he pulled something in his back,

"Christ, I'm getting auld." He muttered as he finally wandered through to the kitchen, picking up his mail as he passed the front door. Most of it was leaflets for the upcoming elections for his own Parliament, one or two bills and the rest were leaflets for the upcoming UK referendum on voting reform. He flicked through them again with a frown. All but one were from the 'No' campaign. Snorting in slight disdain, Scotland gathered all the leaflets up and tore them in half, depositing the remains into the recycling box next to the back door. It wasn't that he didn't take an interest in current political affairs, it was just that he was fed up of hearing about the referendum every day from various sources. It didn't help that his youngest brother had taken to panicking over the whole affair for some stupid reason. Shaking his head, Scotland put the kettle on and sorted his tea; there would be time to worry about all this idiocy later.

...

"Why the hell would anyone be confused England? I use fuckin' STV fer ma elections and naeone seems tae hae any bother!" Scotland yelled at his younger brother. He'd just come down to sort a couple of things out with regards to the Royal Wedding, and yet here he was just five minutes later arguing with England about the referendum campaign. England sighed, trying very hard not to lose his temper like his brother had,

"It's just the presmise they're working on Angus." He replied levelly. Scotland banged his fist off the table,

"It's no' just that, look at half of these supposed 'reasons'!" he spat the word out like it left a nasty taste in his mouth, "Mair than half o' these claims are fuckin' lies an' I wouldnae be surprised if Aussie had a few words tae say aboot this ane here." He growled, stabbing at the leaflet sitting on the table with his finger. England scowled at his brother again,

"Well I can't exactly stop them can I?" he retorted sharply. Scotland's scowl deepened,

"It's all a bunch of lies and bollocks and ye bloody well ken that!" he yelled, his ears turning red, shaking another leaflet in front of his brother's face. England puffed up his cheeks in annoyance, it wasn't that he completely disagreed with his brother; there just wasn't anything he could do about the problem. He sighed as he sat back down, Wales eyeing them both with a bored look,

"Look, it doesn't matter about the leaflets." He muttered, "What really matters is how the people vote, and we can't control that." Scotland glowered at his brother, but sat down with a sigh,

"I ken." He said dully, "Ach, I shouldnae be so worked up aboot this. I've got other things tae worry aboot." He sighed,

"We've _all_ got other things to worry about." England said pointedly, massaging his temple in irritation. Scotland watched his brother with a degree of worry,

They're still gauin' at it?" he asked. England nodded,

"Goddamn coalition can't agree on anything." He muttered darkly. He stopped rubbing at his head and took a swig of his tea, "Still, could be worse." Scotland shrugged, he was just glad he didn't have to put up with it himself. Wales flicked through the newspaper absentmindedly,

"If the two of you are finally done arguing, we've got some last minute things to sort out before the holiday weekend." He said. England looked up at his twin brother,

"Like what, for example?" he asked tiredly, "If it's anything to do with either the referendum or the wedding I'm going to curse you into next year." He threatened. Wales merely raised an eyebrow,

"No, nothing to do with either of those, but America did say he was inviting himself over. I seem to remember you saying something about it last week, in between the muttering and swearing that you were doing when you came home." He said. England swore as he banged his head off the table,

"That bloody idiot is going to be the death of me one of these days." He muttered. Scotland smirked a little,

"If that's a' it takes tae gid rid o' ye..." England glared up at his oldest brother,

"Oh, do shut up." He snapped, finally getting up, "I might as well look out the coffee for the git." He said heavily, "No telling when he'll show up." Wales and Scotland looked over to the front door,

"Right about now, by the look of it." Wales noted in amusement. Scotland sent England a sympathetic look,

"I'll get the door." He said, getting up as someone rapped overenthusiastically on the door. England sighed as he put the kettle back on to boil, he didn't really want to put up with this. Scotland took a deep breath and paused to make sure he wouldn't say anything too rash the second he opened the door. When the door was opened America was stood there, grinning,

"Oh, hey Scotland!" he greeted happily, "Did Iggy remember I was coming over?" he asked. Scotland scowled at the younger nation,

"Aye, he's just put the kettle on now." He said, stepping to the side to let his oldest nephew into the house. America bounded happily into the kitchen,

"The hero has arrived!" he called. England sighed irritably as he continued making the teas and coffees,

"Alfred, please, it's too early for this." He muttered, pouring some of the water in the kettle into the teapot. America shrugged as he sat down at the table, picking up one of the newspapers,

"It's never too early, you're just getting old." He laughed. England suppressed the urge to turn around and start yelling at the younger nation. He didn't have to as Scotland swatted the blonde with a newspaper as he passed,

"An' you're jus' an immature wee brat." He said with a scowl, taking his seat again and opening the newspaper he'd picked up. America glared at his supposed uncle,

"Hey," he muttered, "I'm not immature." He groused. Scotland merely grunted as he folded the newspaper in half to read one of the articles. England put a mug down smartly in front of America before he could open his mouth again,

"Don't bother, you'll just get your head bitten off again." He said. America grinned up at England,

"Well, anyway, I thought I'd see how you were doing." He said, "You guys are having a referendum thing in the next couple of weeks right?" Wales looked up at him,

"I'd avoid discussing that if I were you." He told the younger nation, "Those two have just finished arguing about it." America looked at England first, then at Scotland. Scotland made no movement to suggest he'd even heard his brother. America looked back at England with a confused frown,

"What's there to argue about? It's just a referendum." He asked. England snorted as Scotland finally spoke up,

"One sided campaigning, which is nowt but lies and bollocks that have been made up tae scare folk into their agenda." He replied. England sighed and shook his head,

"Not something we can help, obviously, Scotland's just a little more worked up about it since it's taking place on the same day as his Parliamentary elections." Scotland snorted as America looked at his uncle, confused once again,

"But... didn't you guys just have an election?" he asked slowly. Then his eyes widened, "You guys aren't having the same trouble Mattie is, are you?" he asked, starting to panic. Scotland put his paper down, outright glared at his nephew, got up and stormed out of the kitchen before he did something drastic. England breathed a quiet sigh of relief,

"No America, Scotland has a devolved Parliament and the elections for them are coming up at the same time this referendum is." He explained. America still looked confused,

"Since when did Scotland have his own Parliament?" he asked. Wales choked on his tea and gave the super power an incredulous look,

"Please tell me you really aren't that dense." He pleaded. England slapped his hand on his face and groaned. America frowned,

"I'm not stupid, I'm just confused." He whined. England glanced to the kitchen door to make sure Scotland hadn't heard what America had said. Noticing that either the Scotsman either hadn't or was making a point of ignoring what the younger nation had said, he breathed a sigh of relief,

"God damnit America," he sighed in frustration, "I know you don't like paying attention to things if they don't involve you, but in this house, these things are a huge deal." America snorted,

"So are you going to tell me, or what?" he asked. England looked over to Wales with a tired expression,

"Wales, you do it, I'm going to go make sure that Scotland hasn't done anything stupid." Wales glared at his twin,

"You'd better pay me back for this Arthur." He warned. England waved the comment off as he wandered off. Wales sighed in irritation and looked at America, who gazed back at him with worry. Snorting, he decided he'd better tell the younger country exactly what was going on,

"Alright, you _twpsyn_, you'd better be paying attention." He snipped, "Scotland's had his own Parliament since 1997 and his elections are held at a different time to the general UK elections. He's got one coming up at the same time as the voting referendum this time because of the way everything's worked out." America nodded,

"So what's the deal with this 'devolved' thing?" he asked, "I know Scotland's not an independent country..." Wales, having anticipated this already, snorted again,

"Think of it like the different levels in your own government." He said slowly, "You know how you have the President at the top, then the senate, then the individual governors for each of your States?" America nodded again,

"So the Scottish Parliament works like a governor would for one of my States?" he asked, just to make sure he'd worked it out right. Wales shrugged,

"Sort of, in Scotland's case it's a little more complicated, but I'll save that for either England or Scotland to tell you themselves. Just don't tell Scotland that analogy, for God's sake. He'll kill us both for suggesting it." America eyed Wales warily as he finally took a gulp of his coffee, Wales already having gone back to his paper.

...

England, finding his brother in his usual hiding place, sighed,

"How come you didn't knock the idiot's jaw off?" he asked as he sat down next to the red haired nation. Scotland took a drag of his cigarette and sighed,

"No' had enough tae drink fer that." He replied, "'Sides it's tae early." England hummed in agreement,

"Still, I'm surprised you didn't try something else." Scotland shot his brother a sharp glare, but relented with another sigh, handing his cigarette to the blonde. England looked at the stick with a calculating expression, shrugged and took a drag himself. Scotland leaned against the trunk of the tree the two of them were sitting under,

"No really worth stirrin' up trouble." He finally replied, "Like I said earlier, we've got ither things tae worry aboot." England frowned, whether it was in confusion or worry, Scotland couldn't tell,

"Well, hopefully the git's a bit more informed by the time we get back indoors." He said slowly, "I left Wales to explain a couple of things." Scotland snorted in amusement,

"Tha's no' if he decides tae be a dick an' explain it a' in Welsh." England hummed a little,

"That's possible, he didn't seem too happy to be left 'babysitting'." He gave Scotland his cigarette back and got up, "I wouldn't bother rushing back, Alfred will probably be here the whole day." Scotland shrugged as he took a final drag of his 'cancer stick',

"I'll need tae come back in anyway." He said, glancing at his watch, "I've got a delivery turning up in aboot five minutes." England nodded as Scotland stubbed the end of his cigarette out and got up,

"Hopefully things won't get too hectic when we get back indoors." He said, hoping against hope that America wouldn't say anything else he'd regret.

...

Luckily things had settled down and America didn't bother asking any more, in Scotland's mind, stupid questions. Unfortunately, America insisted that all four of them should spend some 'quality time' together. Scotland had been hoping to get back to his own house to finish off the pile of work he'd left to the last minute, but America had put on his best 'kicked puppy' expression and England finally gave into it, forcing Scotland to stay to at least watch a movie. America had, unusually, decided on 'The Full Monty', which was something that the British nations agreed was worth staying in the same room as the American with for two hours. Wales sighed in relief at the peace and quiet that had endured even after the movie's end. There was no way it would hold for long however. Not when England, Scotland _and_ America were in the same room at once, but Wales decided that he might as well enjoy it while it lasted,

"Dude, what the hell happened to Free Speech?" Too late. Wales sighed as Scotland rounded on America and started yelling at him, while England tried to calm them both down. Shaking his head, Wales headed up to his room, might as well wait it out.


End file.
